BELLEVILLE, Ill. — You never know what someone else is going through. That's a message being heard around the world right now. And it's one a nurse from Belleville lives by after life gave her more heartache than she could imagine.
Hannah Neumeyer, 25, had it all. She had her dream job helping others as a nurse at Barnes and was planning the wedding of her dreams to the love of her life, Ian Bequette.
"Ian was the most sweet and caring person there ever was,” Neumeyer said.
Until one diagnosis changed everything.
"My fiance was diagnosed with stage four brain and spinal cord cancer," she said.
That was in September. Bequette lost his fight in February. The pain was unbearable, and then weeks later, Neumeyer was on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Going through caring for him and then losing him and then jumping right into COVID was probably the hardest thing I could have ever went through," she said.
There were days when the chaos inside the hospital took over and that helped Neumeyer through. But then those tough days came, and they felt impossible.
"If I had not had Ian’s family and my family and friends, I don't know how I would have been able to deal with losing him and dealing with COVID at the same time,” she said.
What she's experienced in the last six months is more than anyone should endure in their lifetime, but it’s taught her a valuable lesson that she now lives by.
"I work in healthcare, so I see it every day. He really showed me at 35 years old how short life is. To live every day to the fullest and be as happy as you can and love everyone around you," she said.
"Don’t judge. I think that everyone needs to just take a step back and be kind to each other because you never know what someone is going through."
